# What does ‘spill the beans’ mean?

To “spill the beans” means to reveal a secret or confidential information. The origin is uncertain and often traced doubtfully to ancient Greek voting with beans; Brewer's 1898 does not record the modern American idiom, which spread in the early 20th century.

## What it means

- The origin is uncertain and often traced doubtfully to ancient Greek voting with beans; Brewer's 1898 does not record the modern American idiom, which spread in the early 20th century.

## Action steps

1. Very common in casual English about disclosures.
2. Example: Come on — spill the beans about the surprise.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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